Data Discovery Challenge unlocks innovative ideas

By Digital News Asia February 10, 2015

First prize winner uses data visualisation for better business strategies based on human footfall and interest patterns
Shortlisted teams gain a place in the TAG.PASS acceleration programme

HOW about an app that not only helps you save money when purchasing home appliances, but also saves the environment? Or one that helps businesses better plan their delivery routes to save time and resources.

These are just two of the innovative ideas and solutions that surfaced from the Data Discovery Challenge Finals when private datasets were pooled with other datasets including government datasets.

Organised by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), the shortlisted teams comprising budding entrepreneurs, innovators and start-ups battled it out before the judges to win not just attractive cash prizes of more than S$13,000 but also a place in the TAG.PASS acceleration programme offered by the investment arm of IDA, Infocomm Investments Pte Ltd (IIPL).

IDA Assistant Chief Executive, Development Group, Khoong Hock Yun said, “Data and analytics play a critical role in our journey to becoming a Smart Nation and the Data Discovery Challenge offers the participants a chance to be part of this journey with us. We are heartened by the variety and responses to our Challenge with the innovative ideas and solutions presented to help advance us on the Smart Nation journey.”

Decision Architects by Chris Lo walked away with the first prize of S$5,000 with his winning entry of using data visualisation to enable business owners to develop better business strategies based on human footfall and interest patterns. Lo also clinched the Singtel Smart Nation Innovation Award of $3,000 for using the dataset provided by Singtel.

The second prize and S$3,000 was awarded to CompareRoute’s Edmund Chan for his innovative solution that helps businesses better plan their delivery routes to save time and resources. This solution also won Chan, one of the Best Business Concept Prize of S$500 as well. The other Best Business Concept Prize went to team Qliknic for the solution to help patients plan which polyclinic to seek medical attention at based on real-time queue situations in the various polyclinics.

Team Data Rookies took the Third Prize of S$1,500 for Plan B – Beat the Crowds! – a service catering to visitors heading to popular tourist attractions. Based on proximity and crowd situation, the service can propose alternative locations for users to visit if the place of interest becomes crowded.

These top three winning teams will be enrolled into IIPL’s TAG.PASS acceleration programme which will fast forward their development through intense business coaching. In addition, the winning teams will receive support in mentorship and anonymised data from Singtel, and technical coaching and access to development platform from Progress Software Corporation.

The Data Discovery Challenge utilises a federated dataset discovery mechanism (named the Federated Dataset Registry or FDSR) that seeks to provide a coherent method to dataset discovery in the private sector. The FDSR was launched as part of the Data-as-a-Service pilot to support the development of a Data Marketplace where both public and private sectors data can be shared or used for commerce. It is one of the preliminary ideas outlined for the Infocomm Media Masterplan that will encourage the development of an ecosystem to support Singapore's Smart Nation vision.

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